The present invention relates to a hot air circulating cooker for heating and cooking food in a heating chamber by supplying hot air to the heating chamber using a fan.
Generally, a hot air circulating cooker has an inner casing defining a heating chamber and a disk-like cover attached on the outer surface of the rear wall of the inner casing. The cover and the rear wall define a fan chamber. A hot air circulating fan and a heater are provided in the fan chamber. A plurality of suction holes are cut by punching in the central portion of the rear wall. Upper discharge holes are cut by punching in a rectangular area of the upper portion of the rear wall, and lower discharge holes are cut in a rectangular area of the lower portion of the rear wall. Bath rectangular area extend in the horizontal direction. The fan opposes the suction holes and is driven by a motor provided outside the cover. The heater has an annular shape and is provided around the fan.
When the fan and heater are operated, the air in the heating chamber is drawn into the fan chamber through the suction holes and is heated by the heater. The hot air is blown into the heating chamber through the discharge holes. As a result, the hot air is circulated in the heating chamber to heat and cook food in the heating chamber.
In the cooker having the above arrangement, the fan is rotated in a one predetermined direction. The hot air in the fan chamber also flows in the same direction. Thus, the hot air discharged from the discharge holes is unpreferably biased in the rotating direction of the fan. For example, where the upper discharge holes are concerned, the amount of hot air discharged from the holes located at the downstream side of the hot air flow is larger than that discharged from the holes located at the upstream-side. This imbalance in the hot air discharge amount at different portions of the discharge holes causes the food in the heating chamber to be nonuniformly cooked.
In another type of known cooker, a rotating tray is provided in a heating chamber and food is cooked while being rotated by the rotating tray. According to this cooker, nonuniform cooking of food can be decreased to a certain degree. However, in a cooker having a stationary cooking tray, e.g., a cooker having two cooking trays in its heating chamber so as to cook a large amount of food at once, nonuniform cooking can easily occur due to the imbalance in hot air discharge amount.